Students research health-related issues in the United States

International exchange: young people from Germany, India, Africa and the United States are taking part in a two-week seminar on life science and medical health issues during the summer vacation. / Partner is the STEM Harmony education center at the University of Colorado, Denver, United States.

Leverkusen, July 24, 2017 – A party trip to Ibiza, a cultural tour of Tuscany or an educational seminar in Colorado? 28 young people with a passion for science chose the latter option and have traveled to the United States this summer as one of the Bayer Science Teens 2017. Thanks to a scholarship from Bayer Foundation, they will be in Colorado from July 24 to August 7 to work together on life science and medical health issues. At the forefront of the seminar is the international exchange between young scientists. Alongside five participants each from India, African countries and the United States, 11 German students aged between 14 and 16 years have joined the science camp.

An independent panel selected Tim Boysen and David Gashaw from Berlin, Julian Obst from Erkelenz (winner of the Jugend forscht science contest), Laura Wortmann from Hilden, Johannes Kohlhaas from Leverkusen, Lea Wolter from Monheim, Zoe Heite from Olpe, Katrin Schuster from Odenthal, Peer von Grünberg from Wermelskirchen, Marie König from Wülfrath and Konrad Nickelt from Wuppertal. The teenagers are being accompanied by former Kurt Hansen scholarship recipient Tejas Joshi from India and by Theodore Wang from the United States, who was one of last year’s Science Teens.

“The students selected all have outstanding grades in scientific subjects and good English language skills, are physically fit and are interested in medical health issues,” explains Thimo V. Schmitt-Lord, Chairman of the Bayer foundations. “This is just the right mix because the participants will spend their time in Colorado tackling both theoretical and practical tasks in the laboratory and in the mountains. The aim of the seminar is to identify scientific talents at an early stage, provide them with long-term support, help them network internationally and perhaps arouse their interest in working for Bayer at a later stage.”

The tenth Bayer Science Camp is again being run in collaboration between the Bayer Foundation and the prestigious STEM Harmony education center at the University of Colorado. Among the features of the seminar program are the exchange between committed young researchers and medical experimentation in a high mountain region. During the first week, the young people are at the university campus in Boulder performing assignments concerning the human anatomy and biomechanics. They have access to state-of-the-art laboratory tools. For example, they are using the Anatomy in Clay® Learning System to make detailed clay models of muscles and other anatomical parts. In the second week, the students can look forward to a real mountain adventure. They will be traveling to Leadville, the highest city in the United States, to research the effects of altitude on the human body. Among other things, they will be investigating the impact of ascents and descents on themselves, the treatment of altitude sickness with oxygen and wilderness first aid.

Since the program’s launch in 2008, a total of 118 German school students have benefited from research scholarships from the Bayer Foundation. The scholarships cover all travel and accommodation costs of USD 4,500 per participant. The science camp is organized by the Bayer Foundation in collaboration with the Bayer USA Foundation and the Center for STEM Learning.

Bayer Science & Education Foundation

As the education foundation of the innovation company Bayer, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation sees itself as an initiator, promoter and partner for innovation at the interface between industry and science. Its programs focus on people with a pioneering scientific spirit – talented school and college students and top research scientists who are committed to achieving advances in health care and nutrition. The funding activities of the Bayer Foundations are a central element of Bayer’s global social commitment amounting to approximately EUR 50 million annually – with the focus on promoting scientific education and leading-edge research, and on providing health care and meeting the basic social needs of people who live near the company’s sites.

Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.